The term Tinariwen means deserts. Tenere is one desert and Tinariwen are many deserts. No, this isn’t a lesson in geography, but just to give you a glimpse into the origin of the cult nomadic Algerian band Tinariwen’s name. Formed in the deserts of Tamanrasset, Algeria and later Mali, the band is renowned as Africa’s most popular and acclaimed world music export. In the 1980s, the young founders, Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, Touhami Ag Alhassane and Intiyeden were in exile, due to the political situation in their land. “Since he was a child, Ibrahim was looking for a guitar — he played a traditional flute and ‘tehardent’, a trad guitar with three strings, and built his handmade guitar until he found his true first guitar in 1978. They met Abdallah Ag Allousseyni (one of the current band members) in Libya where they spent few months in a military training camp,” the band says, in an email interview. The band’s fifth album Tassili, that released in 2011, won the Award for Best World Music Album at the 54th Grammy Awards.

Tinariwen will release their sixth album Emmar in February this year